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Our Staff

/ Our Staff

Our Staff

At Sunshine, we offer lots of great activities and amenities, but it’s our people who really make Sunshine ADC centers feel like a home away from home. Our staff bring not only a wealth of expertise, experience, and skill to Sunshine, but also a caring and enthusiastic spirit. Sunshine staff love their work and look forward to every day they spend with our members.

Tammy Ryan

Newburgh Director — Sunshine ADC

If you ask Tammy Ryan what goes into planning activities at Sunshine’s three locations, she’ll tell you: “It’s all about having fun. If it’s not fun, we really don’t want to do it.” In addition to overseeing Sunshine’s centers, Ryan spends time with members every day at the Peekskill and Newburgh locations.

Ryan’s interest in working with the older members of our communities was first sparked when she was earning a Bachelor of Arts degree in Psychology and wrote her thesis on the benefits of wellness programs for the elderly. She went on to receive a Master of Education degree in Health Promotion and Wellness Management, and began her working life as a health counselor developing employee wellness programs for large companies. Along the way, Ryan also gained certification in first aid and CPR.

After a career managing health and wellness centers and a hiatus to devote herself to motherhood, Ryan returned to the field that had first inspired her as a college student, managing residential communities for the elderly. “I found a passion for the elderly when managing retirement communities,” she says.

That passion guides her work as Sunshine’s regional director. “You can genuinely see with the population we serve that we’re positively affecting their lives,” she says. “We have a duty to keep our members healthy and strong, in mind and body, to postpone placement into institutions and also to offer a much ­needed respite for caretakers. I make sure that our members are having a good experience and that we’re providing them compassionate care.

Ryan credits the success of Sunshine ADC to her staff. “They enjoy working with this population,” she explains. “That’s what makes for a successful daycare.” Ryan has built a staff of experienced, certified home health aides who find the time they spend with Sunshine members as meaningful as she does. “They’re truly compassionate people who are amazing,” she says. “I couldn’t be more proud of our staff.”

Sharing days that are filled with engaging activities and a spirit of camaraderie makes Ryan, her staff, and Sunshine’s members a vital part of each other’s lives. “When you get older, you can become lonely and isolated, and sometimes a victim of illness,” says Ryan. “We create these awesome programs and centers that are clean and friendly and warm and comforting for our elderly members to find a place to reach their optimal levels of functioning and to feel loved. And that’s rewarding. No paycheck could ever give you the type of intrinsic reward that these members give back to us when we treat them the way they deserve.”

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Jasmin Tejera

Monticello Director — Sunshine ADC

“We’ve created a family here,” says Jasmin Tejera. “It’s magical, and it doesn’t happen
everywhere.” Tejera is Director of Sunshine’s Monticello center, overseeing activities for both the adult home population and the group of
social daycare members who share their time together at Sunshine.

Tejera holds a bachelor’s degree in Education and came to Sunshine with long experience
managing community service programs ranging from health education to maternal and infant
services. She has sat on numerous community boards and coalitions in Sullivan County,
including Sullivan Renaissance, Latino Service Providers Coalition, Tobacco Free Action
Communities, and the AIDS Council. Born and raised in Manhattan, Tejera has lived in the
county for more than twelve years and is bilingual in English and Spanish.

In addition to her work directing the Monticello center, Tejera visits community members in their
homes to bring them information about Sunshine. That outreach work allows her to see the
difference that joining Sunshine can make in members’ lives. “It changes their way of life,” she
says. “It gives them back their freedom, independence, and creativity. I have people who were
painters once, and because they had a stroke, they weren’t able to pick up a drawing pad again.
When they came to the center, they realized they could develop that skill again.”

To create the kind of environment that transforms members’ lives, Tejera works with Regional
Director Tammy Ryan to program a wide range of activities tailored to the
needs and interests of Sunshine’s Monticello members. She also organizes special community
events where members sell craftwork that they’ve made and give musical performances
together.

But even more than activities and events, Tejera points to her staff as Sunshine Monticello’s
greatest strength. “I believe that the success of the program is determined by the staff,” she
says. “You can have a million activities, but if you don’t have the proper staff to engage the
clients in them, you’re not giving them heart and soul.” Tejera and her staff meet every day to
make sure they’re responding to members’ needs, and they keep the lines of communication
with members open. “It’s a give and take,” she says. “They learn from us and we learn from
them.”

Tejera feels that the daily give and take with members has changed her life for the better, too. “I
don’t think I ever want to do anything other than what I do,” she says. “I recently had a woman
write a letter to us that said we gave her back her life. That itself is my reward.”

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Milagros Caceres

Life Enrichment SpecialistSunshine ADC, Newburgh

Milagros Caceres came to Sunshine with a lengthy career in community service already behind her. After moving from Puerto Rico to New York City as a child, Caceres raised a family in NYC with her husband, Heriberto, and put her bilingual skills to work as an advocate for Spanish­-peaking residents seeking help with housing, education, and immigration issues.

Caceres has been honored for her service by organizations including the Lions Club and Latinos Unidos, and continues to contribute her time and talents to Newburgh City events such as the Spanish Heritage Festival, National Night Out, and Annual Hispanic Heritage Cultural Celebration.